


Forfeit

by ssrhpurgatory



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: 90s Goddard Futuristics shenanigans, Angst, Consensual Groping, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Consensual Groping, Playboy Bunny Outfit, halloween party, no one in this fic is straight, no seriously though this does not end happily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24564529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssrhpurgatory/pseuds/ssrhpurgatory
Summary: Alexander Hilbert (current alias: Karl Kelley) loses a bet to Viktor Stukov and has to either wear a playboy bunny outfit to the Goddard Futuristics Halloween party, or confess to his lab manager that he's just a little bit in love with her. He chooses the former and finds that it gets him some completely unwanted attention from William Carter... and a chance to get wanted attention from the woman he's pining after.
Relationships: Alexander Hilbert/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Forfeit

**Author's Note:**

> I assume as a matter of course that Goddard Futuristics re-uses their aliases. To this end, Viktor Stukov is the current possessor of the Elias Selberg alias, because the thought of Hilbert having to use an alias once used by his friend after said friend is dead and gone makes me emo.

“I cannot believe you are making me do this,” Dmitri muttered in Russian, running his hand down the front of the tight satin bodice he was currently laced into.

Viktor only laughed before responding in the same language. “You had another option, my friend.”

Dmitri frowned. Ah, yes. The option of confessing to his lab manager that he was both attracted to and interested in her, something that he had inadvertently revealed over drinks in Viktor’s apartment some weeks past and had spent every day since denying. “I object to being asked to confess something I do not feel. I said I found the woman fascinating, Viktor, not that I wanted to... to court her.”

Viktor raised his eyebrows meaningfully. “I have known you for almost twenty years, Dmitri, and I have never heard you admit to fascination with another human being in all that time. And I have seen ample proof. You cannot take your eyes off the woman. If I have made assumptions, they are your own doing.”

Dmitri flushed. So what if he found himself staring at Rosemary when they were both in the same room? The woman was eye-catching, that was all. Constantly in movement and always wearing something brightly colored. It was impossible to not notice her. “I wish you would just let me pay you. Does it have to be this?”

Viktor laughed again. “Goddard pays me quite as well as you, and you were the one to ask that the forfeits of this wager be non-monetary.”

“I thought that you would ask for something merely impossible, like finding a good bottle of vodka in this country,” Dmitri muttered. “Not for me to be mortified in public.”

“No, you thought you would win and have a chance to mortify me. And I was never too fond of vodka. I would rather watch you be embarrassed.” Viktor tilted his head to one side and smiled brightly at Dmitri. “Unless you wish to change your mind and make that confession after all. Miss Epps might be one of Mr. Carter’s lieutenants, but I do believe she might be the sort to protect that which is hers.”

A thought Dmitri had had more than once. Rosemary had a fierce protective streak where her labs were involved, at least, and sometimes that even extended to the scientists she managed. And perhaps, if she were in a relationship... but the thought of confessing his feelings, no, that was not to be borne. He could just imagine her smiling at him in a kind and faintly pitying way and thanking him for his feelings before rejecting him to his face. And probably going off with Al Bennett, though the man certainly did not deserve her. Dmitri’s apartment shared a bedroom wall with Rosemary’s, and far, far more than once, he had overheard her encounters with the giant of a man... followed by Al leaving as quickly as possible once their activities had ended.

Though perhaps she preferred such brevity. Still, if Dmitri were but given a chance...

To Viktor, he said only “I will be mortified either way. I prefer the path that does not make it impossible to work with my lab manager going forward, thank you very much.”

Viktor shrugged. “If you insist.”

“One last question: did you have to make the scene of my mortification quite so public?”

“It would not be mortification if it were not.” Viktor opened the door to building that held most of Goddard Futuristic’s public event rooms, letting out the sound of chatter as he ushered Dmitri in to the building. “And you will be far from the only staff member in a costume. It is, after all, a Halloween party, and you know how Mr. Carter feels about staff participation.”

They made their way down the hall to the largest event room in the building, which was already packed full to the bursting with Goddard Futuristics employees in varying levels of costume and even more varying levels of undress. Though Dmitri could not blame anyone for using the excuse of such an event to shed layers of clothing; it was still well over twenty degrees outside, even at this late point in the year, and so humid that evening that it felt as if he were swallowing swamp water when he tried to breathe.

At least it would make it easier for him to blend into the background. He was far from the only man wearing what amounted to little more than women’s lingerie.

“Oh Dr. Selberg! Elias!”

Viktor flinched, though whether from the sound of his assigned alias—for which he would have much rather had a proper Ilya—or from the source of the shout, Dmitri did not know.

The source of the voice materialized a moment later, Mr. William Carter seeming to appear out of nowhere to take Viktor by the elbow. “So _very_ glad you could make it tonight.” Viktor flinched once more, Mr. Carter’s tone of voice a reminder that these little social events were mandatory. “And how is _dear_ Eber?”

“As well as can be expected,” Viktor responded stiffly. And there was the real reason Dmitri had gone along with this nonsense: to provide his friend with a distraction. Viktor’s partner, Eber Weiss, was currently in the middle of dying, one slow day at a time. Viktor had not truly wanted to attend this party, but Eber had insisted that Viktor not irritate Mr. Carter more than necessary by forgoing it.

Privately, Dmitri thought that Eber had needed some space; Viktor had shown a distressing tendency to hover anxiously over his partner during every free hour, and Dmitri suspected that Eber was not someone who took being fussed over well.

Mr. Carter’s gaze flicked over to Dmitri and slid past him for a moment... only to come back in focus and eye Dmitri blatantly. “And _who_ do we have here? Don’t tell me that’s Dr. _Kelley_ in that little get-up.”

Dmitri resisted the urge to cross his arms protectively over his chest. “I lost a bet,” he sent back, along with a glare.

Mr. Carter’s only reaction was a smirk and a slow, thorough, and disgustingly invasive once-over of Dmitri’s form. “ _Very_ nice.” And then he was gone, hopefully off to harass someone else.

Viktor shuddered. “I am sorry,” he murmured, once more back to Russian and barely audible over the sound of chatter in the room. “I did not think...”

Dmitri placed his hand on Viktor’s arm. “Do not concern yourself. I am not afraid of that man.” A lie, and Viktor knew it, but his friend gave him a wan smile all the same. “And we are here now. Let us go put in our mandatory hour of unnecessary socializing and be done with it.”

Another wan smile from Viktor. “At least there is an open bar.”

“Shall we go get ourselves very drunk, then?”

“Lead the way.”

Rosemary Epps thought she had finally reached a point in her life where nothing another person could do would ever surprise her again.

The fact that the sight of Dr. Karl Kelley dressed as a Playboy bunny was still capable of sending a shock through her system was the really surprising thing about it.

She squinted across the room at him, just to be sure. He’d come in with Dr. Selberg, of course, and the two men had been friends well before they had taken their current positions at Goddard—and their current aliases—but that wasn’t quite proof enough. After all, he looked a little too tall to be Dr. Kelley, so she was probably just mistaking someone else for her subordinate.

But no, a closer look revealed round-rimmed glasses, a beak of a nose, the customary frown the man always bore on his face. The fact that his skinny little body was laced into a quite astonishing costume did not change the fact that it was Dr. Kelley she was looking at.

Remarkable.

She found herself approaching before she could think better of it, joining him and Dr. Selberg at the bar, summoning her usual from the barkeep with a flick of her fingers as she did.

“Dr. Selberg. Dr. Kelley.”

Both men nodded at her, Dr. Selberg distractedly—but of course he would be distracted, he had to be resenting the fact that Mr. Carter required everyone to put in public appearances at such events while his partner was in hospice care—and Dr. Kelley with a certain stiff caution.

The barkeep handed her a glass with a finger of dirt-cheap and extremely volatile whiskey in it and returned to making mixed drinks. Rosemary cradled it to her chest and half-turned in the direction of the two men, trying not to eye Dr. Kelley too blatantly. Though that damn fluffy tail on his backside kept catching her eye. She wanted to squeeze it.

She took a sip of her whiskey and raised her eyebrows. “Dare I ask?”

Dr. Kelley looked as if he would like to sink into the ground in mortification. Instead he downed one of the shots of vodka arrayed in front of him in one swift swig.

“He lost a bet,” Dr. Selberg said, peering around at her from Dr. Kelley’s other side.

Rosemary felt a genuine smile curving the corners of her mouth up and made no attempt to suppress it. “Do I want to know what you two hooligans were gambling over if this is the sort of thing you were staking on it?”

Dr. Kelley’s cheeks flushed a dark red.

Dr. Selberg laughed. “Probably not. It was a silly wager, anyway. I suspect to take my mind off of...”

Off of Eber Weiss, slowly dying. Hell, she needed a distraction herself from that. She had managed Eber’s lab since she had been hired by Mr. Keller, for more than fifteen years now, and while they weren’t exactly friends... well, Eber had always taken a kindly, fatherly sort of interest in her personal life, and she had even appreciated it, from time to time.

“Well. A good thing you had Halloween as cover,” she said, forcing false cheer into her voice. “Because absolutely _nothing_ about that get-up is safe for a lab environment.”

At this, Dr. Kelley finally turned towards her, raising his eyebrows deliberately as he looked her up and down. And all right, so her costume was little more than a pumpkin-orange version of one of her usual suits, and maybe her own heels and stockings didn’t provide her with any more protection than his legs currently had. That was still no reason for him to give her such a dubious look.

“Ah, I see Edwina,” Dr. Selberg said, clapping Dr. Kelley on the shoulder. “I will leave you in Rosemary’s capable hands, my friend.”

For some reason, that made Dr. Kelley blush again.

“So. How has your evening been?”

Dr. Kelley only let out a little grunt in response and downed another shot of vodka.

“That good, huh.”

He sighed. “I am here to help distract Viktor, Rosemary. Not to… to socialize.”

Rosemary swallowed hard. “Right. Of course. I’ll just… leave you to enjoy yourself, then.”

She whirled around and headed off at random and tried not to feel hurt that he wasn’t even willing to put up the pretense of a friendly few moments of conversation between them. After all, she should be relieved. Hadn’t she spent the past year telling the man that he couldn’t be too friendly with her if he wanted to make friends with his coworkers? Well, he had finally listened to her, so if she felt as if he’d just punched her in the stomach and knocked all the breath out of her, it was her own damned fault for getting too comfortable with the man.

She glanced back over her shoulder. Damn, but that tail still looked like it would be fun to squeeze.

That was one instant too long to be looking away from where she’d been going, apparently; her next step ran her into what felt like a very warm and solid wall. A pair of hands came down from on high and took her by the elbows, steadying her.

“And where are you rushing off to, Rosie?”

Rosemary beamed up at her friend. “Al! I didn’t think you were going to make it back in time to come to this little shindig.”

“Now, you know I never miss out on an opportunity to wear a costume.”

Rosemary snorted. “Al, you’re just wearing a pair of cat ears and a tux. You’re as bad at costumes as I am.”

“I also have a tail. And whiskers,” Al said, up on his dignity.

“And you need to shave that mustache off. It _really_ doesn’t suit you.”

“Oh, but you can’t _imagine_ the sort of attention it’s been getting me.”

“It’s a porn ‘stache, Al. I know _exactly_ what kind of attention it’s been getting you. And that’s no different than your usual sort of attention and you know it.”

Al laughed. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too, darling. How long until Carter sends you off on another one of your little adventures?”

“I’m just here for a week, then it’s back on the road for a European acquisition. How about you catch me up on all the gossip?”

“I’d be happy to.”

Dmitri downed his final shot of terrible vodka and glared down at the empty glasses. He was going to kill Viktor for this. The costume was bad enough, but abandoning him the moment Rosemary approached? That was definitely murder-worthy.

Better not to think about why he found it particularly mortifying. Rosemary was his lab manager, and that made it embarrassing enough without… without…

At least there had been no mockery in her expression or tone of voice when she had looked him over. At least he had not had to bear that.

He waved over the barkeep. “Could I have the same again?”

Another three shots, taken more slowly this time, and he was about ready to go hunt Viktor down. No one else had approached him during this time, and he doubted anyone would. Not now that he had chased Rosemary away. Not now that she had run into—literally run into, Dmitri had been unable to believe his eyes as he had watched it happen—Al Bennett.

Dmitri sighed. As much as he tried to hate the man, there was something charming about Al. If Dmitri were given the choice between himself and a congenial southern giant, he would pick Al too. Especially when rumor had it that everything was proportional.

The room suddenly felt too crowded, the air in it too thick, for all the air conditioning was doing its best to suck the moisture out of the humid Florida air. But someone would notice if he left now, and he could not quite bring himself to believe that he would return if he passed through that door. So instead, he cast about the room, trying to locate Viktor.

Viktor was still chatting with Edwina Gao, who had taken an irrational dislike to Dmitri the instant he had joined Rosemary’s lab group and who had not let up since. So instead, he started looking for a dark corner not already occupied where he could lurk until his head stopped spinning.

Rosemary found her eyes seeking Dr. Kelley out over and over as she caught Al up on all the latest gossip. She couldn’t quite seem to help it. The rabbit ears and heels made him tall enough to be easy to spot over the crowd, and well… he looked good, that was all. Better than he should. She was rather envious of his legs, too; the man didn’t have to shave or wax to achieve such smoothness, and the high heels did wonders for his calves.

And she still wanted to grab that tail.

“Something you’re not telling me, Rosie?” The low rumble of Al’s voice broke her out of her reverie.

“Sorry?”

“Your Russian. You keep staring at him.”

Rosemary felt her cheeks flush. “He’s not my Russian. And I’m not used to seeing him in such a casual state, that’s all. He’s the sort of man who buttons all the way to the top as a matter of course.”

Al raised one eyebrow. “And?”

Well, it wasn’t as if he’d ever tell anyone. Al was good at keeping secrets like that. “God, Al, you know I never want to be the sort of person who lusts after her subordinates, but if I _were_...”

Al laughed. “Oh, Rosie, you _like_ the man, don’t you.”

Rosemary rolled her eyes. “I think the man looks damnably delicious in a Playboy bunny outfit. That’s a far cry from liking.” Better not to think about how she enjoyed talking with him. It was clear from their interaction earlier in the evening that Dr. Kelley had finally realized there was no need to even pretend to be friendly with her. And she couldn’t fault him for it.

Even if she did like him more than she ought to.

There. Better make a resolution right now to stop looking at him. She focused herself on Al with a bright smile. “So, what can you tell me about your latest escapade? Or would you rather give me all the dirty details about the people you keep saying enjoy that mustache?”

Al laughed, and started in on a story about a secretary who hadn’t been able to keep his hands to himself, and Rosemary did her best to at least put up a semblance of paying attention, even if most of Al’s words were going in one ear and out the other.

But that was just fine.

The dark corner ended up not so dark, but it at least provided a wall for Dmitri to lean against. He shut his eyes and swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat as he had picked his way carefully across the room. That had definitely been too much really terrible vodka.

He did not know how long he had been leaning there when he heard the sound of someone close by and not passing on by him the way the rest of the crowd in the room had. He opened his eyes to find Mr. Carter leering at him.

He had to get away. “Excuse me,” he said, pushing himself upright off the wall and taking a few stumbling steps around Mr. Carter.

The man caught him by the elbow. “Oh, don’t worry. I just wanted to have a little _chat_ with you.”

Dmitri had been uncomfortably drunk, but something about Mr. Carter’s comment and that firm hand on his elbow sobered him completely, a sinking pit opening in his stomach. “I would love to stay and chat, but Rosemary wants me to fetch her another drink,” he heard himself say without thinking the words through. He tugged his elbow out of Mr. Carter’s hand and headed towards the bar on automatic, not knowing what else to do but match action to words. But Rosemary might be one of the few people in this room who could stand up to Mr. Carter, and Dmitri had to hope that she would do it for him.

“You haven’t spoken to _dear_ Rosemary since the start of the evening, Dmitri,” Mr. Carter murmured, moving in close to Dmitri’s side as he reached the bar and—Dmitri shuddered, as much from the use of his real name from the man as from what came next—setting his hand on Dmitri’s back. Very, very low on Dmitri’s back.

“We have a signal,” Dmitri insisted, trying to summon the barkeep’s attention.

“Do you, now.” Those words came from far too close to Dmitri’s ear for comfort as that hand slid its way up Dmitri’s spine. But that was no better; the man’s fingers came to rest just above where the corseted bodice yielded to skin and stroked the line of Dmitri’s shoulder blade possessively. Dmitri tried to suppress a second shudder.

“We are very close.”

“I’m sure you are.” That hand splayed across his shoulders, thumb and index finger coming to rest on either side of Dmitri’s neck.

The barkeep finally looked Dmitri’s way, and a swiftly begged “Rosemary’s usual,” later and Dmitri had a glass of amber-colored liquid in hand. Thank goodness Rosemary _had_ a usual drink. “I had better take this to her,” he said, swiftly extracting himself from Carter’s groping hand.

“Come back to me when you’ve run your little errand,” Carter said, sounding sure that Dmitri would follow the command implicit in his tone.

Dmitri stiffened his jaw and faced Mr. Carter down with a glare, vibrating with indignation. “She will want me to stay.”

Carter snorted and leaned nonchalantly against the bar. “Yes, by all means, if Rosemary _wants_ you to stay, please do.” The man sounded extremely dubious about it. “But otherwise I expect you back here. For us to have that little... _chat_.” Carter’s eyes travelled invasively down Dmitri’s body at that, and Dmitri found himself suppressing yet another shudder.

He turned swiftly away from the dangerous head of the communications department and located Rosemary, almost by instinct. It was not as if he was not always aware of where she was in a room; for the last half hour, she had been holed up at a little corner table with Al Bennett, the pair of them obviously watching the crowded room and commenting on the people in it.

Rosemary’s attention focused on Dmitri as he approached, though to her credit her expression did not change a bit. He set the glass of amber spirits down on the table near her elbow and managed to gasp out a pained “Save me.”

Rosemary only looked confused, but at her side there was sudden movement from Al as he set his hand on Rosemary’s shoulder. “Carter,” he said in a low murmur to Rosemary in which his lips did not move. “Rosie, you’re going to want to look real comfy with Dr. Kelley here right quick.”

“How comfy?” She asked back, her expression still cheerful and her voice anything but.

“I’d suggest he get in your lap, if the two of you can cope with that. Now.”

Rosemary’s attention shifted to Dmitri. “You heard the man,” she said, patting her lap.

Dmitri did not know what else to do. He settled himself awkwardly in Rosemary’s lap, crossing his legs to keep from sliding off. The woman was short, and her lap was no exception.

“Arms around my neck, Dr. Kelley, and I’m about to put my hands on your back and knee,” Rosemary said up at him, that dissonance between her expression and her tone still present.

“All right,” he gasped, still breathless with fear even as he complied with the request. He found he had to lean into her a bit—and tried his best not to realize how comfortable her chest was as he did—before crossing his hands over one another on the opposite side of her neck. And as promised, one of Rosemary’s hands came to rest in the small of his back and the other settled possessively on his knee, firm touches that gave him the impression of a certain controlled chastity, for all that her hold on his knee had all the appearance of unchasteness about it.

“Now you just smile down at her like you’re having the time of your life,” came Al’s voice. “And I’m going to go see if I can head off Carter.” And then the giant of the man was gone, leaving Dmitri alone with Rosemary.

Dmitri tried to smile, but he still felt like a cornered animal. From the corner of his eye, Dmitri watched as Al’s tall form joined Mr. Carter at the bar, though he could not read Carter’s mood from such a distance. A moment later, Al lead the man away towards the opposite side of the crowded room.

Suddenly, Dmitri was shivering, all the tension he had been carrying releasing at once and leaving him hard pressed not to collapse entirely against Rosemary’s extremely comfortable chest.

“It’s all right,” she murmured, that hand on his back stroking his spine gently, as if trying to soothe a spooked animal. “Just stay here as long as you need to. He’s not going to touch you as long as I’m here.”

Dmitri shut his eyes and tried to relax. “I am sorry—“

“It’s fine,” she said, cutting him off. And then her hand left his back for a moment, and he felt a little tug on the rabbit tail that was affixed to the back of the bodice. “Right. Let me just get that out my system.”

Dmitri found himself unaccountably amused, and opened his eyes to peer down at Rosemary’s face. “Are you trying to _steal_ my tail?”

“More fondling it,” she said cheekily, grinning up at him, her voice matching her expression for once. “A woman can only control her impulses for so long.”

He knew the feeling. Right at the moment he was having a hard time remembering why he should not kiss her.

He distracted himself with a question. “Would he have...?”

“Probably nothing worse than groping,” Rosemary said quietly, her somber tone back out of sync with the bright smile that was on her face.

“Probably?”

“Well, he and Pryce have their little arrangement, but he’s always been the sort to take what he wants, when he wants it.”

Dmitri was shivering again, and without thinking about it, he dropped his head to Rosemary’s shoulder, burying his face against her neck. He could still feel that fake smile plastered to Rosemary’s face as she murmured soft nothings and held him, one arm cradling his shoulders and that hand stroking his neck gently, her other hand on his knee, still in that firm, careful grip meant to look more intimate than it was.

Dmitri knew he wanted more intimacy than that from her, but he did not dare ask for it. Still, he would accept as much as she was willing to give, even in so ridiculous a situation as this one.

“Maybe I should take you back to your apartment,” she said softly against his ear.

The thought of being alone right now... no. It sent a shudder through him. “Could you take me to yours? I do not...” he could not bring himself to finish the sentence.

“I’m sure Al’s got him plenty distracted by now.”

He got the words out anyway. “I really do not want to be alone, Rosemary.”

This got him a sharp, startled inhale from Rosemary. “And I’m an acceptable companion? You must be desperate.”

Might as well admit to desperation, if it would keep her close. “Yes.”

She was silent for a moment. “Let’s get you back to the apartment complex, at least,” she said, lifting her hand from his knee and giving his back a little nudge.

Dmitri slid hastily off her lap and almost overbalanced. He still was not quite used to the heels… and the sobering effect of being approached by Mr. Carter had apparently worn off. Rosemary was to her feet a moment later and offered him her arm.

“How many shots did you drink?” she asked as they made their way to the door of the event room.

“Too many.”

“Terrible man.” She guided him out into the hall in silence, and then out of the building. The temperature had dropped several degrees while Dmitri had been in the party; he did not know if it was that or the shock he was still recovering from that left him shivering.

“Here.” Rosemary removed her arm from his and shrugged out of her suit jacket, hanging it over his shoulders. Dmitri slid his arms into the sleeves and clutched it closed with one trembling hand. Otherwise, it would have done very little to keep him warm; for all that she was shorter than him, Rosemary was also a good deal bigger around than he was. “And how are your feet?”

“Feet?” Dmitri asked, not understanding the question.

“Are they tough enough for concrete from here to the apartments? I don’t want you to turn an ankle in those heels if you’re as drunk as you seem.”

“Ah.” Dmitri slid out of the heels and Rosemary bent over to scoop them up in one hand before offering him her arm again.

“Shall we?”

He nodded and took it, leaning into her perhaps more than he needed to on the walk back to the apartment complex they both lived in. The cool night air helped clear his head a little, and Rosemary’s solid form at his side helped steady him, even as it left him maudlin.

He wanted her, his lies to Viktor about how he felt about the woman be damned. He wanted the right to touch her whenever he felt like it. He wanted her by his side and in his bed. And he had never, _never_ wanted another person this way in his life.

So what would it truly hurt if he made the confession Viktor had been pushing him towards? At the worst, he would be mortified by embarrassment every time he saw the woman. But she had already seen him in this outfit, had already had him sitting in her lap as she rescued him from Carter. He did not think he could become more embarrassed in her presence if he tried.

At the best…

Well, he would just have to try for the best, wouldn’t he?

Rosemary came to a halt at Dr. Kelley’s apartment door, one before hers at the end of the hall. “I’ll leave you here, I think. Can you get out of that getup on your own?”

Dr. Kelley shook his head, looking down at her with wide eyes. “Viktor had to lace me into it. I am not certain where the strings are.”

Oh dear. But that bodice looked like it would be incredibly uncomfortable to sleep in. She would just have to ignore her attraction to the man a little longer and give him a hand with it. “How about your apartment key? You certain where that is?”

He frowned and fumbled at the top of his bodice. “Ah. Hm. It seems to have gone… deeper.”

“I see. Well, let’s go to my apartment first and I can help you get yourself unlaced.” And she definitely could not meet his eye as she said those words.

She ushered him into the bathroom once they were in her apartment. “Wait here a moment. I’m going to get you a robe.”

“All right.”

When she returned, he had removed her jacket and the bunny ears and was leaning heavily against her bathroom counter, studying his own face in the mirror with a frown. Rosemary slid in behind him. “Let’s get you unlaced, then.”

“Thank you,” he murmured, the reflection of his eyes meeting hers over his shoulder.

“Don’t mention it. No trouble at all.” A lie, if only because the way Viktor had knotted the strings of the bodice was definitely trouble, but she got them undone and loosened in a jiffy, hiding her smile at the clink of Dr. Kelley’s apartment key sliding out one of the leg holes and falling to the tile of her bathroom floor. “I’ll just leave you alone with this robe. It should be cover enough to get next door, right? Just get it back to me any time you want.”

Dr. Kelley’s hand came down on her arm as she turned to leave the bathroom, and she turned back to him, curious.

“Yes?”

“Rosemary…” He sighed. “Could we talk?”

Suddenly she resented him saying that now. “You certainly didn’t seem very interested in talking earlier this evening,” she spat, shrugging his hand off her arm.

He held his hands up defensively. “I know. But I…” And his expression softened in some undefinable way. “Please? I do not want to be alone.”

Plaintive words that cut her to the core. And it wasn’t as if she was all to keen about being alone this evening either, but Al had, no doubt, been snatched up by some other willing soul by now. Dr. Kelley might not be good for the same things Al was, but at least he’d be better than sitting alone in her apartment.

She lifted her chin at him in a challenge. “All right. I’m just going to go get changed myself.”

Dr. Kelley didn’t move to stop her this time, and when she emerged from her bedroom in a robe of her own, he had settled into one corner of the couch in her living room, his skinny little body dwarfed by her spare robe.

“I’m going to get you a glass of water—and don’t say you don’t need it,” she added, holding a hand up to stop the protest she had noticed forming on his lips.

“Very well.”

When she returned, he took the glass of water from her in hands that seemed to be shaking a little bit and, at her prompting, drank half of it down as Rosemary sipped away at her own glass of water, watching him over the rim. She couldn’t imagine what had prompted this, after the man had been so irritated with her at the start of the night. Not even after he had sought shelter from Carter in her arms. That had been the act of a desperate man.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked after Dr. Kelley finished looking around for a flat surface not covered in papers to set his glass on and eventually settled for the floor.

“I like you,” he blurted out.

Rosemary felt her eyes widen in surprise. Not what she had expected in the slightest. “All right. I’m glad?”

He sighed and shut his eyes. “I said that wrong.”

“How did you mean to say it?”

His eyes opened again and his gaze fixed on her face, very intent. “I meant… ah, blyad. English does not have the right words for this.”

Oh. “Dr. Kelley…”

He swore again in Russian. “Could you not for once call me Dmitri?”

“No, I can’t. Because you’re not Dmitri Vologin any more. Because to me you can only be Dr. Karl Kelley, one of the many scientists I _manage_. Do you understand that?” Rosemary felt herself begin trembling as she said the words. “I can’t be more than that to you. I can’t.”

“I want you.” The words were said in a soft, plaintive, _longing_ tone, and she found herself longing in return.

“I _can’t._ ”

His eyes dropped to his lap, where his hands were clenched around one another. “I see.”

Oh, the hurt in his voice left her wanting to reach for him. She clenched her own hands into fists in her lap. “If it helps…”

“Do not say it, Rosemary. If I must be nothing to you, do not try to… to placate me.” He pushed himself to his feet, swaying a little, and made for the short hall that lead to her front door. Rosemary did not try to stop him or to follow, but he paused all the same, turning his head back towards her but staring fixedly at the wall. “Thank you for protecting me.”

“It’s what I’m here for.”

He let out a dark laugh. “I know.”

And then all she could do was watch his back as he left both her and her apartment behind.

**Author's Note:**

> I was given an emoji-meme prompt to [draw Hilbert in a playboy bunny outfit](https://madstuart.tumblr.com/post/619819032775983104/hilbert) and of course I included Rosemary trying to grab his tail because I have a one-track mind. [This lead to a second drawing of him sitting in her lap while she fondled his tail.](https://madstuart.tumblr.com/post/619850439840727040/lochley-this-is-your-fault) Two days later and what was supposed to be crackfic is now... this.


End file.
